Tuesday, April 04, 2017

In an
unprecedented act of ecumenical collaboration, three Iraqi Churches have joined
forces to execute a plan to rebuild Christian homes on the Nineveh Plain.

Under the auspices of international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need
(ACN), on March 27, 2017, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox
Church and the Chaldean Catholic Church—at a ceremony in Erbil,
Kurdistan—formally established the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee (NRC).

The
Committee is tasked with planning and supervising the rebuilding and repair of
the homes of their respective faithful, which were damaged and destroyed during
the occupation of the Nineveh Plain by ISIS.

The
Committee is comprised of two members from each of the three Churches, as well
as three outside experts. ACN will pursue advocacy and fundraising in support
of the Committee’s formidable task: more than 12,000 homes need to be rebuilt,
at a likely cost of more than $200M.

Funds
will be allotted according to the number of homes belonging to faithful of each
of the three Churches.

Syriac
Orthodox Archbishop Timothaeus Mosa Alshaman of Antioch and prior of the
Monastery of Saint Matthew, declared: “Today, we are truly a united
Church—Syriac Orthodox, Chaldean and Syriac Catholic—united in the work of
rebuilding these houses on the Nineveh Plain; and in restoring hope to the
hearts of the inhabitants of these villages, inviting those who have left them
to return.”

Father
Andrzej Halemba, head of ACN’s Middle East desk, stressed that the
establishment of the Committee is not first and foremost about finding funding.

“We
have not done it for money,” he said. “We have done it to ensure that the Christians
can remain in Iraq. We are working for God.”

Syriac
Catholic Archbishop Yohanna Petros Mouche of Mosul declared: “I would like to
invite the Christians of the Nineveh Plain to return to their homes and resume
living in their villages, in order to bear witness to Christianity.”

“Today
we join together to demonstrate that we are united in our wish to accelerate
this operation as rapidly as possible, and that it must start as soon as
possible.”

Saying
that the courage of the three Christian Churches to work together is an echo of
the courage of those Christians who have decided to stay on in Iraq, Chaldean
Bishop Mikha Pola Maqdassi of Alqosh proclaimed: “This is a brave step forward,
which gives us great joy and encourages the Christians to remain in their
villages and their own country.”

Syriac
Orthodox Metropolitan Nicodemus Daoud Matti Sharaf of Mosul, Kirkuk and
Kurdistan called on Catholics and all Christians around the world: “We are the
roots of Christianity. We must remain in our country.”

“We
must remain as witnesses to Jesus Christ in this country, in Iraq and
especially on the Nineveh Plain. This task of rebuilding all the houses in
those villages—where ISIS has destroyed everything—is truly an enormous
challenge. Thank you in advance to all those who will help us.”

Directly under the
Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports
the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.
ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through
prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul
II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work
in over 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including
providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church
buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since
the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed
worldwide.

For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call
718-609-0939 or fax 718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard
Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384.
www.churchinneed.org

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